"The 220,000 U.S. private sector jobs added in April is well above the twelve-month average," Carlos Rodriguez, president and CEO of ADP said in a statement. "Job growth appears to be trending up and hopefully this will continue."

Here's a snapshot of how many jobs were added during the past year:

Mark Zandi, chief economist of Moody's Analytics, which produces the report jointly, said after a tough winter, employers are adding to their payrolls.

The ADP report is something of a preview for the week's most-anticipated economic news — the Bureau of Labor Statistics' look at job growth and the unemployment rate in April. It is due on Friday at 8:30 a.m. ET.